Douglass junior defensive end Deondre Clark was offered a scholarship by Alabama on Tuesday. Photo by Nate Billings, The Oklahoman

While the basketball state tournament is the first thing on his mind, Douglass junior Deondre Clark got some football news that could seriously impact his future when national champion Alabama extended a scholarship offer to the 6-foot-3, 240-pound defensive end, according to Douglass coach Willis Alexander.

Clark, who set a school record with 22 sacks last season to earn a spot on The Oklahoman’s All-State team, has offers from all across the country, and he has been gaining a lot of interest in the Southeastern Conference.

LSU, Texas A&M, Georgia, Missouri, Ole Miss and several others have offered Clark, and a few of them — along with Alabama — will likely be among his final choices. Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, USC and more than a dozen other schools have offered Clark, who was No. 1 on The Oklahoman’s Super 30 recruiting rankings for the 2014 class.

“The state tournament is the first thing he’s focusing on right now,” Alexander said. “After that, I told him that we need to sit down with his family and start to formulate a plan.”

At that point, Clark will likely narrow the options for his five official visits, which is expected to include multiple SEC schools.

Clark will also attend the Under Armour All-America combine in Dallas on March 17, and will be strongly considered for a spot in the All-America game next January.

Clark said last week that he is no longer considering Oklahoma as an option, following the dismissal of defensive line coach Jackie Shipp, with whom he had a strong relationship.

Though his older brother, Stephen Clark, has signed to play basketball with Oklahoma State, the Cowboys aren’t guaranteed to be one of the final five schools. Deondre Clark has said he won’t let Stephen’s future impact his decision.

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by Scott Wright

Reporter

A lifelong resident of the Oklahoma City metro area, Scott Wright has been on The Oklahoman staff since 2005, covering a little bit of everything on the state's sports scene. He has been a beat writer for football and basketball at Oklahoma and...